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#1401 2019-01-25 20:33:22

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

As soon as a brokered deal is signed we can then open the government and the works all but contractors will get the back pay that they are in disparite need of. The deal is the one that we had before Christmas when Trump blinked and said no.

Deadline for border wall money February 15th and not the border security which is the issue for Trump. The deal has border security money that is a bit higher than last decembers amount but thats good.

Congress passes President Donald Trump's 'deal' to reopen government for 3 weeks

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#1402 2019-01-26 10:12:04

GW Johnson
Member
From: McGregor, Texas USA
Registered: 2011-12-04
Posts: 5,423
Website

Re: Politics

It's really hard for an ordinary citizen to know what this "new compromise" really is,  that Trump just signed.  Lots of reporting noise,  few hard facts,  at least yet. 

Some seem to imply this is really just the same bill that the House had passed,  and the Senate was going to pass with a big bipartisan majority,  right before Trump reneged on his promise to sign,  starting the shutdown standoff.  But the short "three weeks" interval looks awfully suspicious to me. 

I know people like Mitch McConnell routinely prioritize party advantage way far higher than the public good,  but that issue of refusing to bring bills to the Senate floor without a Presidential promise to sign looks really bad to me. 

Since when does the Senate need Presidential approval to do its business?  Especially with the votes to override his veto,  which is what I had heard about that bill Trump reneged on.  The Founding Fathers would disapprove of that,  for sure.

I think maybe it's way past time to apply grass-roots term limits and start voting these long-time office holders out.  They are just too corrupt and too far removed from any motivation to do the people's business. 

Party and policy proposals fade into insignificance,  compared to the need for new,  uncorrupted-by-big-money blood. 

I'm ashamed of my state for not starting that in the 2018 midterms,  at both the national and state levels. 

GW


GW Johnson
McGregor,  Texas

"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew,  especially one dead from a bad management decision"

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#1403 2019-01-26 12:15:36

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

You can read the bills https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/ plus https://www.congress.gov/

Found the name of this restart for the nation after its very long shutdown....

The bill, known as the "First Step Act," passed the House 358-36 after passing the Senate earlier this week 87-12. Trump has supported thebipartisan measure and has said he would sign it into law.

edit oops wrong bill name....this is the one for reduced sentences....

The cost to america is quite a bit for this shutdown in many ways. Financial rating agency Standard & Poor's analyzed the cost of the partial government shutdown on the United States economy and found it added up to at least $6 billion — more expensive than the $5.7 billion President Donald Trump wanted for the border wall.

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#1404 2019-01-26 16:23:40

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

Nine federal departments and several smaller agencies – all representing a quarter of the federal government – were forced to close their doors on Dec. 22 when their funding lapsed because of the budget impasse between Trump and congressional Democrats over border wall funding.

The measure also extends the Children's Health Insurance Program through 2023 and suspends three Obamacare-related taxes and fees.

The Senate voted 81-18 to pass with the House voting 266-150 for a continuing resolution or CR a short-term measure that extends government funding at existing levels.

A strong majority of Americans blamed him for the standoff and rejected his arguments for a border wall, recent polls show.

The deal includes back pay for some 800,000 federal workers who have gone without paychecks but not its contractors.

The compromise is to negotiations over DACA plus immigration, military spending, disaster relief and health care for both parties in both house and senate...

A take away from the shutdown should be this lesson that "brinksmanship and hostage-taking do not work. There are those that felt that the shutdown is an impeachable offense... if Trump vetoes a bill to reopen the government ... which he did not do.

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#1405 2019-01-26 17:01:35

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

In a time whn money issues surrounds the US its good that the Pentagon has saved $4.7 billion in the past 2 years

Now the two-time former CEO is using her business experience to continue to create cost savings and improve man hours through an effort that is little-known outside of the nation's capital. Hershman said this year’s effort is already “tracking” toward the goal of $6 billion in planned savings for this fiscal year. Hershman's office is focusing on creating efficiencies in key areas like information technologies, health care, the military’s industrial supply chain, contract management and acquisitions.

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#1406 2019-01-30 21:57:29

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

The nations State of the Union Address was postpone and is slated for Feb. 5th.

Undocumented worker fired by Trump Organization will be guest at State of the Union

New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman invited an undocumented immigrant who was fired from the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to be her guest at the State of the Union on Feb. 5. Victorina Morales was fired in December after giving an interview with The New York Times disclosing her legal status.
"We are tired of the abuse, the insults, the way he talks about us when he knows that we are here helping him make money," she told the Times. "We sweat it out to attend to his every need and have to put up with his humiliation."

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Trump National Golf Club had fired its undocumented employees. The Trump Organization said Wednesday that it will use the E-Verify electronic system at all of its properties to check employees' documentation, in response to claims that some of its workers were in the U.S. illegally.

We know that the E-Verify can be falsified so even thats not going to work 100% and neither with the real ID...

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#1407 2019-01-31 03:45:14

Terraformer
Member
From: Ceres
Registered: 2007-08-27
Posts: 3,800
Website

Re: Politics

Will she be able to make it? Hopefully she'll have been deported by then.


"I'm gonna die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy." - If this forum was a Mars Colony

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#1408 2019-01-31 18:05:10

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

Trump will have his ICE storm troopers standing by to gather her up the moment she shows just like the FBI did for Stone...

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#1409 2019-02-01 20:21:17

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

The shutdown clock is ticking by fast and with the many bill efforts and discusions have not gone all that far as it would seem. The many agencies that were effected are still in the cross hairs even while they do their best to restore all aspects of organizational operation back to normal. National parks rush to repair damage after shutdown

The amount of filth and destruction was devistating to many of the national Parks.

Visitors left human waste, piles of trash, graffiti, used unauthorized trails and damaged Joshua trees at the namesake park in California during the 35-day shutdown. Many of the parks went unstaffed, while others had skeleton crews with local governments and nonprofits contributing money and volunteers.

National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst in Washington, D.C., declined to provide a full accounting of the damage at more than 400 locations, saying it was isolated and most visitors took good care of the land.

But conservationists warn that damage to sensitive lands could take decades to recover. Even before the shutdown, national parks faced an estimated $12 billion maintenance backlog that has now grown.

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#1410 2019-02-02 19:53:11

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

America is not united and the effects of another shutdown will not be good for anyone...
Native American communities worry about long-term effects from shutdown, new bill seeks to protect them

There are many issues that we do not have but the reservations do that will need to be corrected in order for the voice of the people to be heared.

We have seen the number 800,000 federal workers who went without pay for weeks during the longest government shutdown in American history but this one we might have missed in more than 240,000 American Indians who work for the government, according to census data.

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#1411 2019-02-11 19:16:45

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

Trump offers socialism for the rich, capitalism for everyone else

n the conservative mind, socialism means getting something for doing nothing. That pretty much describes the $21bn saved by the nation’s largest banks last year thanks to Trump’s tax cuts, some of which went into massive bonuses for bank executives. On the other hand, more than 4,000 lower-level bank employees got a big dose of harsh capitalism. They lost their jobs.

Trump is promoting socialism for the rich and harsh capitalism for everyone else in other ways. GM has got more than $600m in federal contracts, plus $500m in tax breaks. Some of this has gone into the pockets of GM executives. Chairman and CEO Mary Barra raked in almost $22m in total compensation in 2017 alone.

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#1412 2019-03-04 17:14:33

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

President Donald Trump in fact ordered ex-White House economic adviser Gary Cohn to pressure the Department of Justice into blocking the AT&T and Time Warner merger..
Trump May Face ‘Grounds for Impeachment'

“If proven, such an attempt to use presidential authority to seek retribution for the exercise of First Amendment rights would unquestionably be grounds for impeachment,”
highly improper for a President to use the Justice Department to undermine two of the most powerful companies in the country as punishment for unfavorable news coverage as Time Warner owns CNN

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#1413 2019-03-05 03:35:03

Terraformer
Member
From: Ceres
Registered: 2007-08-27
Posts: 3,800
Website

Re: Politics

two of the most powerful companies in the country

If that's true, isn't their merger prohibited anyway under anti-trust law?


"I'm gonna die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy." - If this forum was a Mars Colony

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#1414 2019-03-05 08:51:59

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,781
Website

Re: Politics

The perpetual monkey show. I had debated American politics, but people have become extreme partisans. The latest crap is tiring.

I could post some Canadian politics. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada will participate in the Lunar gateway. He claimed this was a way for Canada to participate in exploration of the Moon. He obviously doesn't realize how useless the gateway is.

And in other issues, the Canadian Attorney General was shuffled out of that job in January because she refused to intervene a court case against a company charged with bribery in Libya. If that company is found guilty they won't be allowed to bid on any government jobs for 10 years. There could be other penalties but inability to bid on Government contracts in Canada will lose jobs. There's a law against political interference with the Attorney General. She was given some other position but when the Prime Minister said her presence in cabinet is proof that allegations are false, she quit the next day. The PM's principal secretary quit over this in an attempt to save the PM. The PM tried to muzzle the former AG but she was finally allowed to testify before committee. Now a member of his party said she will not seek re-election this year, citing this incident. And another member of cabinet resigned in solidarity with the former AG. This has never happened in Canadian history. The PM is in trouble.

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#1415 2019-03-05 11:16:10

Terraformer
Member
From: Ceres
Registered: 2007-08-27
Posts: 3,800
Website

Re: Politics

You've never had cabinet resignations? They're a regularly occurrence back here in Old Blighty. Particularly over Brexit: one day a Breixteer resigns in protest, the next day a Remoaner, and still we stumble forward, as we always have.


"I'm gonna die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy." - If this forum was a Mars Colony

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#1416 2019-03-05 11:44:08

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,781
Website

Re: Politics

When cabinet ministers resign the usual excuse is to spend more time with their family. Never before has one cabinet minister resigned for the stated purpose of supporting another cabinet minister who resigned over ethical violations.

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#1417 2019-03-05 11:51:59

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,781
Website

Re: Politics

dolighan_cartoon_mar519.jpg

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#1418 2019-03-05 20:59:30

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

some more that goes with post 1412 in T-Mobile has admitted that after it began lobbying for a merger with Sprint, it started to book stays for top executives at President Donald Trump’s Washington hotel. T-Mobile's patronage of Trump’s D.C. hotel increased after Sprint merger

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#1419 2019-04-03 16:25:54

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

The email storm still is brewing for the trump hoards and now we have Woman From China Carrying Malware Arrested After Entering Mar-a-Lago after  passing by several gates of check point...tripped up be the secretary asking questions....of which then the secret service....

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#1420 2019-04-06 16:18:51

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

The hiding of tax returns have come to a head in the most recent request via written law to investigate not only character of the man but to determine criminal or ethical behaviour and crimes hidden within. Now its always has been practiced so if you are a candidate suck it up and show them to dispell any of these things that they may contain.

This should include all, including you Bernie Sanders; still hasn't released his tax returns, despite pledge

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#1421 2019-04-08 19:29:23

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

The list of resignations is on the increase again and this time its on the border
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_T … signations

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#1422 2019-04-13 15:36:01

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

Still using lapdog to keep his taxes out of interpretation of fraud and other actions which would be impeachable....
House Chairman Says Treasury’s Reasons to Withhold Trump’s Tax Returns ‘Lack Merit’

The chairman, Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts, set a new deadline for compliance, April 23, and warned that if the Trump administration did not reply by then, its “failure will be interpreted as a denial of my request.”
Mr. Neal is relying on a little-known provision in the federal tax code, Section 6103, that dates to the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s and gives the chairmen of Congress’s tax writing committees unique powers to request tax information on any filer. The code itself gives the executive branch little wiggle room in responding, stating only that the Treasury secretary “shall” furnish the information upon request.

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#1423 2019-04-13 18:08:15

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

SpaceNut wrote:

We have not talked much about this but when it comes to where we are engage in combat or its cleanup of its hard not to wonder why we have rid the area of the issues.

Taliban vow to attack Afghan security forces during elections

The Taliban have kind of been a pain in the butt with regards to getting out of that nation....

Once again they are still an issue for Afganistan as Fighting across Afghanistan as Taliban opens offensive before talks

The chances of peace talks actually doing anything is slim to non....

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#1424 2019-04-14 19:35:23

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

Another has done what the President will not Kamala Harris is latest 2020 Dem contender to release 15 years of tax returns, including her returns for 2018

Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer, reported an adjusted gross income of about $1.9 million in 2018, substantially more than the $142,000 Harris declared in 2004 when she was the district attorney of San Francisco. They paid just under $700,000 in federal taxes, a tax rate of nearly 37 percent.

Over the past five years, the couple has paid over $2.2 million in federal taxes at an average effective tax rate of about 33 percent.

The latest garbage from the WH is that Sarah Sanders: Lawmakers not 'smart enough' to read Trump's tax returns, the White House press secretary expressed contempt over Congress' efforts to obtain President Trump's tax returns.

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#1425 2019-05-02 18:59:09

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Politics

The report is in but is there which might have been turned over as well in Klobuchar asks Mueller whether he reviewed Trump's taxes

Something that should have been part of the payoff schemes to keep it out of the ears during the election process.

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